Stonewall Cymru today published the first of ten short films marking the charity’s 10th anniversary

Stonewall Cymru today publish the first in ten short films making the charity's 10th anniversary

The films, produced in partnership with the Iris Prize International Film Festival, feature lesbian gay and bisexual people talking about different aspects of lesbian, gay and bisexual people’s lives in today’s Wales.

The first film is about gay people’s working lives, and features Superintendent Liane Bartlett of South Wales Police. In her video Liane talks candidly about her experience of being gay in the police service, and how things have changed for the better over the years.

Over the coming months Stonewall Cymru will publish more of these digital stories to celebrate the charity’s decade of work in areas like community, age, sports and family. The charity hopes these compelling oral histories will be useful for schools, youth groups and workplaces for talking about lesbian, gay and bisexual people and their lives in Wales.

Stonewall Cymru Director Andrew White said: ‘After a decade of huge progress in Wales, we’re proud to celebrate Stonewall Cymru’s role in making life better for gay people in this country. Being gay affects so many different aspects of our lives, and we hope these very personal stories will show how much we’ve achieved and how much is left to be done.

‘We’re delighted to be working with the talented team at Iris, and with each of the individual role models who have given their time so freely to tell their stories. We hope that they will play an important role as we look to our next decade in helping make sure every one of Wales’ 184,000 lesbian, gay and bisexual people can live and work free from hatred, prejudice, and fear.’

Berwyn Rowlands, Director of the Iris Prize Festival said “The Iris Prize is all about celebrating excellence in LGBT filmmaking. So it was only natural for Iris to want to celebrate this important anniversary for Stonewall Cymru by using short films! We hope to be able to bring the collection of 10 shorts together to feature as part of the 2013 Iris Prize Festival in October.”

“I’ve enjoyed a close relationship with Stonewall Cymru over the years and I’m looking forward to the next 10 years.”